An ordinary primary care doctor who takes insurance would never order that Spectracell test. And if you are lucky, you would get 10 to 15 minutes with that doctor, maximum. That is the current medical model and it is unfortunate for people like us who end up with chronic pain and disability.

Doctors utilize tools for clinical practice and run everything through the filter of health outcome studies. Health outcome studies are generally measuring morbidity, mortality, and cost of care.

For instance, if you ask for vitamin test, the answer will likely be no. Why? Because in their clinical algorithm, running the vitamin test will not change your health/disease status nor will it lengthen your life; so it is not worth the cost to the medical establishment for running the test.

This is exactly what happened to me when I asked my new Primary for a Vitamin D test. Mine had tested low (in the 20's) two years prior....and I was very lucky to get that test in the first place. My new Primary's answer was "No. Studies shown that testing Vit. D levels won't change health outcomes".

This is extremely frustrating, especially when you are trying to figure out a complex medical or chronic pain problem. However, this is the system that is in place. This is why people go "off the grid" and seek out alternative solutions.